Born in 1977

If you were born in 1977, Australia was finding its cultural voice with a confidence it hadn't previously possessed. The films were coming: *The Last Wave*, Peter Weir continuing to make cinema that was genuinely strange and specifically Australian. The music was extraordinary — *Countdown* was at its peak influence, and the pub rock scene was producing some of the best live music in the world.

Cold Chisel were doing the circuit of Australian hotels, building the following that would make them legends. Slim Dusty was still recording, the bush always present in the national imagination even as the population became overwhelmingly urban. The Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth brought street parties and general celebration in the older suburbs, though the younger generation was more likely to be listening to the Clash or watching Australian films than waving a Union Jack.

Malcolm Fraser won another election. The economy was difficult — inflation, unemployment — and the Fraser government's economic management was coming under criticism. But if you were a teenager, the pub and the pub band were the world, and the world was very good.

Australian Rules football had its VFL in full swing, and the MCG on Grand Final day was still the loudest place on earth. The beach, the barbie, the backyard cricket — the constants held.